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Cuba: León Richards Appointed as New President of Olympic Committee

Roberto León Richards, new president of the Cuban Olympic Committee. (Foto: Roberto Morejón).

Richards was elected on Monday for the position held since 1997 by José Ramón Fernandez, who has been now granted the status of Honorary Life President

Roberto León Richards was elected president of the Cuban Olympic Committee (COC) in an ordinary assembly that applauded the proposal to grant José Ramón Fernández Álvarez the status of Honorary Life President, according to Granma newspaper.

The source states that Richards, who served as vice president of the entity, was elected on Monday by direct and secret ballot for the position held since 1997 by Fernandez, protagonist of a trajectory unanimously pondered by the attendees.

“His devotion, dedication, honesty and will are erected as a legacy of an exemplary continuation of the thought of our Commander in Chief Fidel Castro,” said Richards, president of the Cuban Federation of Gymnastics, a sport in which he won Pan American and Central American titles and was awarded the Order of Olympic Merit.

The Assembly, which was attended by the Commander of the Revolution Guillermo García Frías, head of the Cuban Riding Federation, and the President of the Inder, Antonio Becali, ratified Alberto Juantorena as vice president of the COC and elected José Manuel Peláez Rodríguez for the other position of that rank.

Ruperto Herrera Tabío and Rafael Guerra Mollinedo were reelected Secretary General and Secretary of Acts, in that order, while active athletes such as Mijaín López Núñez, and Leuris Pupo Requejo, together with retired glories such as Yipsy Moreno González became part of the Executive of 13 members, where María Caridad Colón was confirmed.